Carlin Begins Cortez Summit Drilling

Carlin Gold Corporation (TSX VENTURE:CGD) ("Carlin" or the "Company") is pleased
to announce that it has initiated drilling on its 100% owned Cortez Summit
property, Eureka County, Nevada. The initial phase of drilling has about 10
reverse-circulation drill holes planned with an estimated 15,000 feet (4,600 m).
The results of this initial phase of drilling will be used to guide the next
phase of follow up drilling. The Horse Canyon and Wenban Formations, which host
Barrick's nearby Red Hill and Goldrush gold discoveries, are targeted for this
drilling by the Company. Drill pad construction has exposed additional altered
Horse Canyon Formation rocks on the west side of the property.


K. Wayne Livingstone, Carlin's President and CEO, comments: "We are excited to
begin drilling at our Cortez Summit property. Our strategic location in the
Cortez Trend adjacent to Barrick's new Carlin-type gold discoveries represents a
rare exploration opportunity. Carlin has the funds for a multi-phase drill
program to follow up on good results."  


CARLIN'S NEVADA PROPERTIES

Carlin owns 100% of three properties in northern Nevada described below, all of
which represent Carlin-type gold targets.


Cortez Summit Property

The Company's Cortez Summit property ("Cortez Summit") consists of 142 claims
located on the Cortez Trend in Nevada, adjacent to Barrick's recently announced
gold discoveries, Red Hill and Gold Rush and the past producing Horse Canyon and
Buckhorn gold deposits. The Cortez Trend contains a major gold endowment that
exceeds 40 million ounces total gold produced, reserves and resources.
Production in 2011 at Barrick's Cortez district operations is reported to be
1.42 million ounces of gold.


On September 7, 2011 Barrick announced two new gold discoveries, Red Hill and
Goldrush, on property adjacent to Cortez Summit. The closer Red Hill discovery
was reported to contain an inferred resource of 3.5 million ounces of gold at a
grade of 0.123 oz/ton. One of the better holes reported at Red Hill contains 194
feet grading 0.90 ounces per ton gold, and is located 2,000 meters
south-southwest of Cortez Summit. Barrick states that the Red Hill geology is
similar to its other deposits in the district. Barrick's operating Cortez Hills
mine is located 6.5 kilometers west of the Cortez Summit. 


On February 16, 2012, Barrick announced an indicated and inferred resource at
Red Hill-Goldrush of 7.0 million ounces of gold as of December 31, 2011, double
the estimate reported just a few months earlier. The deposit is open for
expansion and Barrick is now carrying out a planned $64 million exploration
program for this area in 2012. Twelve drill rigs were observed at Red Hill -
Goldrush in June. Mineralized holes occur within 1.5 kilometers southwest of
Cortez Summit. 


Company geologists believe that the geological environment at Cortez Summit is
similar to Barrick's nearby Carlin-type deposits. The Devonian-age Horse Canyon
and Wenban Formations are thought to potentially underlie the property at
shallow to moderate depths. Portions of these two units host much of the gold
resources in the district, including at Cortez Hills and Red Hill-Goldrush.
Sampling along a prominent north-northwest trending structural zone on the west
side of Cortez Summit has yielded gold values of 447 and 263 ppb in
hydrothermally altered Horse Canyon rocks. This is part of an attractive
untested structural and stratigraphic target in the southwest part of the
property that will be the focus of the Company's initial drilling program. Much
of this target is blind, being covered by post-mineral gravel and basaltic
andesite. The Company conducted a gravity survey to obtain information from the
target terrain underneath the cover. The survey was successful in defining
potentially favorable structures, which represent drill targets. A permit
application for 24 drill sites on Cortez Summit has been approved by the U.S.
Bureau of Land Management. 


JDS Property

The JDS property is 18 kilometers southeast of Cortez Summit along the southeast
extension of the Cortez Gold Trend near the southernmost Paleozoic carbonate
window in the trend. The property is covered by late Tertiary sedimentary rocks
and alluvium. Drill targets have been defined by gravity, soil and mercury-gas
geochemistry. The Company recently received a drill permit. 


Willow Property

The Willow property is located in northeast Nevada, northwest of the new Long
Canyon gold discovery in the Pequop Mountains, which is part of the Newmont
Mining Corporation acquisition in 2011 of Fronteer Gold Inc., a $2.3 billion
transaction. Carlin-type targets have been defined in favorable silty carbonate
rocks of the Roberts Mountain Formation within an area of significant structural
preparation. 


YUKON JOINT VENTURE

Carlin also owns approximately 90,000 hectares distributed over 12 project areas
in Yukon, in a 50/50 joint venture with Constantine Metal Resources Ltd. The
properties are early stage, with the initial field evaluation program completed
in 2011. Several significant gold anomalies have been identified to date.


K. Wayne Livingstone, President and Chief Executive Officer

Note: 

Robert Thomas CPG, Vice President of Carlin and a qualified person as defined by
Canadian National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical
information contained in this news release on behalf of Carlin. 


Forward looking statements: This news release includes certain "forward-looking
information within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation and
"forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (collectively "forward looking
statements")." Forward-looking statements include predictions, projections and
forecasts and are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as
"seek", "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "estimate", "forecast", "expect",
"potential", "project", "target", "schedule", budget" and "intend" and
statements that an event or result "may", "will", "should", "could" or "might"
occur or be achieved and other similar expressions and includes the negatives
thereof. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in
this release are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and
uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be
accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those
anticipated in such statements.  


Forward-looking statements are based on a number of material factors and
assumptions. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially from Carlin's expectations include availability of capital and
financing in connection with future private placement, regulatory approval,
actual exploration results, changes in project parameters as plans continue to
be refined, results of future resource estimates, future metal prices,
availability of capital and financing on acceptable terms, general economic,
market or business conditions, uninsured risks, regulatory changes, defects in
title, availability of personnel, materials and equipment on a timely basis,
accidents or equipment breakdowns, delays in receiving government approvals,
unanticipated environmental impacts on operations and costs to remedy same, and
other exploration or other risks detailed herein and from time to time in the
filings made by the Company with securities regulators. Although the Company has
attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events
or results to differ from those described in forward-looking statements, there
may be other factors that cause such actions, events or results to differ
materially from those anticipated. There can be no assurance that
forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate and accordingly readers are
cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.